1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to dispensers, and more particularly pertains to an improved dispenser especially adapted for dispensing medication units such as pills, tablets, caplets, and capsules which allows control and recording of the type and quantity of medication dispensed, as well as the time of dispensing. As described in detail in the background section of U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,008, there is a serious need for dispensers to aid and control the ingestion of medication by outpatients. In particular, arthritic, poorly coordinated, and neurologically disabled individuals experience great difficulty in carrying out even the relatively simple manipulations required to conform to a prescribed medication regimen. Such patients require a device capable of dispensing medications units such as pills, tablets, caplets, or capsules upon a simple act such as the push of a button or issuance of a verbal command.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
One prior art attempt to address the aforementioned problems, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,810, entails the provision of a dispenser possessing multiple compartments each designed to contain appropriate dosages of various different medications prescribed for administration to a particular patient on a single occasion. This dispenser does not readily adapt to changes in a patient's medication regimen due to the requirement that each compartment be initially filled with the desired dosages of all different medications to be taken on each administration occasion. Thus, if a doctor wishes to change the medication regimen by stopping a particular medication, changing the dosage of one or more medications, or starting a new medication, all of the compartments must be emptied and refilled in accordance with the new regimen. Such changes in medication regimens may occur frequently, dependent upon the different individual responses of various patients to particular medications and medication combinations. The requirement for repacking of the individual compartments of the dispenser by a responsible family member or pharmacy personnel places a hindrance on the ability of the patient to receive the prescribed medication.
Frequently, patients will forget to take their prescribed medication at a particular time. In order to compensate for missed dosages, the next dosage of some medications should be doubled in order to "catch up". Other medications must not be double dosed to make up for such skipped administrations. The provision of various diverse medications in a single compartment of a dispenser substantially hinders proper selective administration of double make-up doses, dependent upon the particular medication.